Adhesive tape package



Aug. 28, 1962 R. M. HOEY EI'AL ADHESIVE TAPE PACKAGE Filed Nov. 7, 1960 INVENTORS.

United States Patent 3,051,307 ADHESIVE TAPE PACKAGE Raymond M. Hoey and George Anton Kaiser, Chicago, 111., assignors to The Kendall Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Nov. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 67,560 8 Claims. (31. 20665) This invention is concerned with adhesive tape packages particularly with packages containing a plurality of rolls of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape.

The packaging of a large number of pressure sensitive tape rolls in a single container so that the package may be conveniently carried and quickly opened and closed and yet such that the rolls are available in undistorted condition is a particularly difiicult problem. Unless such rolls are protected from contact with each other and with the container they become distorted in ordinary shipping and storage. This might be anticipated when it is considered that pressure-sensitive adhesive tape must have a very plastic adhesive mass in order to function properly and that a roll thereof consists of the spirally wound backing interspaced with a spiral layer of such plastic adhesive. Conditions which result in squeezing the rolls or applying pressure to them cause distortion either resulting in rolls out of round or axially displaced rolls. These conditions are frequently encountered in shipping and storage unless special packaging is resorted to. Very elaborate packages have been devised for as little as a single roll of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape but obviously such elaborate packages are not practical where large quantities of tape must be made available in a minimum of time.

It is an object of this invention to provide simple suitable packages making available quickly and conveniently large numbers of pressure sensitive tape rolls in a single package so constructed as to minimize roll distortion during shipping and storage.

Other objects of the invention and the advantages thereof may be readily perceived from the following detailed description of the invention with particular reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates the outside appearance of a typical pressure-sensitive tape package of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the package of FIG. 1 broken away to show the construction and the contents.

FIG. 3 illustrates in cross section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2, the construction and arrangement of the package of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates one convenient way in which a typical package may be utilized by inverting the package and removing the container proper from the lid or cover.

The objects of the invention may be obtained by the use of permanently spaced spindles projecting through the hollow cores of the rolls of tape so that they are restrained from contact with the package and with the rolls on other spindles.

Referring once more to the drawings, is the composite package including the outer container 11, the lid or cover 12 and the contents. At the ends of the container are the spacer discs 14 at the top and 15 at the bottom. These may be provided with finger holes between the rolls to facilitate their removal if desired. The spindles 16 project through loosely fitting holes in both spacer discs and terminate near or in contact with the bottom and lid of the closed container. Between the spacer discs and separated by wax paper rings 18, are the rolls of adhesive tape 13 each constrained in its movement by the rolls on either side and by a spindle projecting through its core 17. When the container is standing on its base as in FIGS. 1 and 3 and when the container is inverted as in FIG. 4, the rolls of tape are constrained into stacks on their respective spindles. Axial movement of the individual convolutions of tape cannot occur because the entire flat side of each tape roll is supported by the flat side of the underlying, tape rolls or by the spacer disc. There is, of course, a force tending to push the flat faces of a given roll together but even those rolls at the very bottom of the stacks are not appreciably affected by this force apparently resisted due to a combination of the stiffness of the spirally wound backing, the support of the core and the adhesiveness of the adhesive mass.

When the package is on its side, however, the spacer discs support the spindels and the latter support the rolls through their cores. In any event, the only rolls which can be contacted by a given roll on a spindle are those on the same spindle immediately adjacent the given roll. Such contact as can occur between rolls on the same spindle is that between the fiat sides of the roll.

Cylindrical containers are preferred in this invention because of their economy of materials and ease of manufacture but it is obvious that the invention is applicable to a wide variety of containers particularly to those having vertical sides and horizontal bases and lids and con taining a plurality of rolls in a plurality of stacks.

The material of the container is not critical so long as it is strong enough to support the weight of the contents. We prefer metal cans but fiberboard or plastic containers are satisfactory. We also prefer to use a spring fit on the container lid so that it may be readily removed but a screw top is satisfactory.

The spacer discs may also be of any material suitably strong but we prefer double thickness corrugated paper because of its lightness and low cost.

The packages of this invention are particularly convenient for athletic trainers in preparing their charges for participation in high school, college and professional sports. It has been discovered that many of the injuries sustained by athletics participating in such sports as football, basketball, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and the like can be eliminated or at least their severity can be appreciably reduced by preventative strapping with adhesive tapes. This means that each player must be strapped. It is obvious that time is important and that large quantities of tape in good condition must be available. The package of this invention satisfies this requirement. It may be carried with the team as a single unit to the strapping station Where it may be inverted, opened (as in FIG. 4) and the spacer disc removed. The tape rolls will remain stacked. A trainer applying strapping tape to a particular part of the body of many athletes will use about the same amount of tape on each. For instance, the rolls may be adjusted so that each roll contains sufiiicent tape to strap both ankles. A trainer may thus reach for a new roll for each athlete. When the strapping is finished, the spacer disc is again applied, the container applied to the lid and the package inverted. It is unnecessary to load tape haphazardly into the container and the invention preserves the tape for future use.

If desired, a very attractive outer appearance may be imparted to the container by lithographing or otherwise applying diagrams illustrating the various steps in strapping parts of the body.

We claim:

1. A composite package of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape rolls comprising an outer container including a base, upstanding walls from said base forming an open compartment, and a removable cover closing said compartment, and contents disposed within said compartment including upper and lower separated spacer-like discs parallel to said base, the outermost points on the peripheries of said discs delineating an area substantially the cross sectional area-of the container opening and fitting loosely-therein,--a plurality of hollow-cored pressuresensitive adhesive tape rolls between said discs and a plurality of preformed parallel substantially rigid spindles each slidabl'y. projecting through aligned holes in said discsandthrough the cores'of a number of said rolls, said spindles being free of attachedextending projections not freely passable in the extended position through the cores of said rolls and extending substantially from base to cover of each of said containers when closed, said spindles constraining the rolls thereon from contact with rolls on adjacent spindles and with the upstanding walls of said container.

2. A composite package of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape rolls comprising an outer container including a base, upstanding walls from said base forming an open compartment, and a removable closure therefor, a plurality of hollow-cored pressure-sensitive adhesive tape rolls arranged in stacks within said compartment, a pair of spacer-like discs with aligned holes separating said rolls from the base and closure of said compartment the outermost points on the peripheries of said discs delineating an area substantially the cross-sectional area of the container opening and fitting loosely therein and a plurality of preformed parallel subsantially rigid spindles each slidably projecting through a pair of said aligned holes and the cores of one of said roll stacks and extending substantially from base to closure of said compartment when closed, said spindles each being free of attached extending projections not freely passable in the extended position through the cores of rolls through which the spindle projects the relationship between adjacent spindle distances, the roll diameters and the spindle to container wall distances being such as to prohibit contact while assembled between rolls on adjacent spindles and between rolls and the upstanding walls of said container.

3. The package of claim 1 wherein the discs and upstanding container walls are closely adjacent at at least three points so separated as to limit to minor amounts transverse shifting of said discs relative to said Walls.

4. The package of claim 1 wherein the spindles are arranged in symmetrical order.

5. The package ofclaim 1 wherein the center to center distances between any two spindles is greater than the radii of any two tape rolls and the distance from the upstanding wall to the center of any spindle is greater than the radius of any tape roll.

6. The package of claim 1 wherein the outer container is a metallic cylindrical container.

7. The package of claim 1 wherein the spacer discs are formed of double thickness corrugated paper.

8. The package of claim 1 wherein the rolls on the spindles are separated by rings of sheet material having relatively low adhesion to pressure-sensitive adhesive.

7 References Cited in the file of this patent Germany July 12, 1956 

